DALLAS (SMU) - With a $2.5M gift from the Hickman family, SMU will soon break ground for a new eight-lane, 50-meter by 25-yard outdoor pool, with 1- and 3-meter diving boards. The $11M project will also include a 20-foot by 40-foot instructional pool that will be used for lessons and rehab/therapy. The addition of the outdoor pool will complete the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center, making SMU the only University in the country with both indoor and outdoor Olympic pools in one facility, further cementing SMU's swimming and diving facility as one of the finest in college athletics.
The Hickman family is making a gift in honor of their husband and father, Holt Hickman, who was a graduate of SMU in 1954. He swam for Coach A.R. "Red" Barr and alongside future SMU Coach George "Mac" McMillion, for whom the Barr-McMillion Natatorium is named. Hickman swam for the Mustangs from 1952-54, helping SMU to two Southwest Conference Championships and winning multiple freestyle sprints. The outdoor pool will be named the Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool.
Lead donors to the Aquatics Center, Bruce Robson and Steve Lindley, gave a combined $6.2M to the project, with their gift-matching challenge helping spur additional gifts to the facility to achieve the fundraising goal for the outdoor pool in just 10 months.
Built on a legacy of proud Olympians, world-record holders and 155 national titles, SMU opened the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium on November 3, 2017. The 42,000-square-foot center is home to SMU's internationally recognized men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
Other amenities of the new project will include a locker room facility – accessible from both the indoor and outdoor pools – including outdoor showers and an indoor dryland training area, which will specifically benefit the SMU diving program, as well as a decorative overhang to provide shade.
This outdoor pool addition will be a hub of community engagement and help SMU attract local and national swimming and water polo events to SMU and the city of Dallas.
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